A Modern Pride and Prejudice
by Sharikaaria
Summary: In a modern setting, Elizabeth Bennet is a working young woman with a tiresome, out of control family. She sometimes feels like getting away, and fate somehow leads her to a young man, Will Darcy. This is my first fanfiction ever. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1: The Bennet Family

**Chapter 1**

Elizabeth Bennet was a rational, hardworking, yet lively young woman. She lived in her own apartment, pleased with the quiet solitude and peace. While it was lonely, it was much better than her original home, which was only twenty miles away and full of every extreme of society that could possibly be found.

Her youngest sister, Lydia, went through at least three boyfriends a month and thought of nothing other than dating, her looks, and the next time she would visit the mall with her friends. Had their father and mother not restrained her, she would have regularly worn the most revealing clothes in public.

The next youngest sister, Catherine, better known as Kitty, followed Lydia around, trying to gain the same flair and attitude. Fortunately, she was less wild, since Lydia would usually reproach her for not finding her own friends to hang out with.

After them came Mary, their exact opposite. Being less abundant in good features, she resolved to study and improve her intellect.

Elizabeth was the eldest after Mary, and Jane was the eldest of them all. Jane was the sweetest, most good-willed, and most beautiful of the five sisters. Often, when Elizabeth had still lived at home, she felt she would have gone insane without Jane. Her younger sisters were extremely agitating, her mother was completely unaware of the family's unhealthy state, and her father had given up entirely.

Indeed, living by herself was not all too bad in comparison. She willingly visited her home every weekend to give her father some relief, and Jane, who lived an hour away, came back every other weekend.

One fine, sunny day at home, when she and Jane were together, she said, "I never thought I'd say this, but I wish my life was more exciting."

Jane laughed. "Lizzy, everyone wishes their lives would be better, but I understand. I wouldn't mind some excitement either."

"You're going to a party tomorrow! You have enough excitement!" Elizabeth said exasperatedly. She pouted with mock jealousy.

Jane shook her head and said, "Oh, please, don't talk about it like it'll be anything good! All these upscale people will be there, and I've got to make myself look nice and friendly to them."

"I think it's impossible for you to offend anyone. You'll be fine," said Elizabeth simply. It really was the truth.

"But I'll be introduced to new, smart people. I don't think I fit in," said Jane.

"If you didn't fit in, you wouldn't have been personally invited by your boss," Elizabeth told her. Jane was silent, as she could find nothing to say.

Suddenly, their mother's voice rose from the kitchen downstairs. "Jane, I want you to come down here, right now!"

Obliging, Jane left the room, and Elizabeth, having nothing else to do, followed her. They were both alarmed to see Mrs. Bennet with a very familiar, rather dangerous glint in her eye.

"I think, Jane," Mrs. Bennet began, "you left out a little piece of information about that party."

When Jane said nothing, she went on, "Mrs. Lucas from next door told me! Her daughter's going there too. You never told me your boss's son is going to be there! He's called Charles Bingley, right?"

Meekly, her daughter muttered a small "yes."

Mrs. Bennet beamed. "Well, let's pick out a dress and some jewelry right now! We want to make you look as good as possible, and maybe he'll notice you."

"Mom, I'm not there to go after Mr. Bingley's son!" Jane protested. Elizabeth concealed her laughter behind her hand, though she privately agreed.

"You have to get married sometime! You're twenty-five, and I say the richer, the better," Mrs. Bennet snapped resolutely.

Resigned, Jane went back upstairs with her mother to find a good dress. Mrs. Bennet suggested a blue dress to match Jane's eyes, but both of her daughters turned it down.

"What about this black one?" Elizabeth asked, after an hour of relentless searching and indecision. "You could tie your hair up in a nice bun with it, and maybe wear a sparkly necklace."

Mrs. Bennet observed it and ordered Jane to try it on. When Jane emerged from bathroom, they all found she looked stunning. The neckline of the dress was elegant and did not rest too low, and the skirt fell gracefully, just past Jane's knees.

"That with a bun, some shiny jewelry, and a pair of heels will make you look like a star," said Elizabeth, smiling. Jane blushed, and Mrs. Bennet then became stressed in the pursuit of good shoes.

When it was dinnertime, Mrs. Bennet was forced to be satisfied with Jane's clothing, and she gave long sermons to her about poise, grace, and charm. Elizabeth heard half of the speech and suppressed her amusement, as her father did the same.

Mrs. Bennet, taking a break, turned to Lydia and begged her to eat more.

"No, I can't!" Lydia said stubbornly. "I'm trying to lose weight. Eating _that_ will make me fat!"

Kitty, who had been eating the exact thing Lydia had scorned, dropped her fork and ate no more of it.

"Actually, Lydia, you'd look better if you ate well and exercised. You can't get anywhere without both," Mary advised, taking another ladleful of soup. "Eating is healthy. Starvation is not."

Lydia glared at her and said, "Shut up, Mary. Nobody likes it when you talk."

Gravely and indifferently, Mary drank her soup in silence. Elizabeth and Jane both reprimanded Lydia for her mean words, but she ignored them and declared she was done with dinner.

"Before you go, young lady," their father told her, "I want to see your grades. It's about time they're due, and yours too, Kitty."

"I have an A in every class," said Lydia quickly, not meeting his eye.

"Let's see the report cards," Mr. Bennet said.

Slowly, Lydia left her seat and brought them in. She sat back down quietly as Mr. Bennet flipped through them.

"Your statement doesn't come in line with the actual grades, Lydia," said Mr. Bennet, his eyebrows raised. "Your highest grade is a C-, and your lowest an E. Kitty isn't much better."

He paused, reading the teacher's lengthy notes below the grades. Elizabeth, sitting next to him, was able to read them as well, and she was not at all pleased.

"Here it says you didn't turn in your Astronomy lab, the most major assignment of the quarter," Mr. Bennet said. "We let you off your chores for one night for that lab. What were you doing?"

Lydia shifted uncomfortably in her chair and did not reply, and Kitty piped up, "I think she was breaking up with her boyfriend over IM."

"Really, I thought she had gotten a new one that day," said Mr. Bennet. Kitty shrugged.

"And you, Kitty, you need to work harder! You only flip through Lydia's magazines all day," said Mr. Bennet.

Kitty started to complain. "But there was a really interesting article about–"

"I don't want to hear about any actors or actresses getting married for the hundredth time," interrupted Mr. Bennet. Reddening, Kitty lowered her head.

"You never ask Mary for her grades! Why don't you pick on her instead?" Lydia said huffily, crossing her arms and slouching in her seat.

Elizabeth, sensing her father's indignation at Lydia's insolence, intervened, "Because Mary rarely brings home anything less than an A."

Mary sat up a little higher in her chair, and Lydia, knowing no one was about to support her, stood up and stormed out of the room.

The rest of the evening was less noisy than usual. Kitty was too ashamed, and Lydia too angry, to speak to anybody. Mary was in her usual state, reading a book by the lamplight.

Mrs. Bennet, gaily ignoring what had happened, went to counsel Jane once more. Luckily, Elizabeth came to Jane's rescue and persuaded their mother that they needed their sleep, especially if one of them was to look her best the following day.

Jane and Elizabeth shared a room, and they talked for a couple of hours as they lay in bed.

"I'll drop you off tomorrow, wherever you need to be," offered Elizabeth.

"Thank you. You know, Lizzy, I am a little curious about Mr. Bingley, as in the son," said Jane.

"We'll hope he's nice and good looking," Elizabeth said, smirking in the dark.

Jane laughed and said, "I just remembered, we're allowed to bring a few family members if we want. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure!" said Elizabeth happily. "Only, you didn't give mom a chance to dress me up."

Jane laughed and said, "She'll have lots of time tomorrow."

"You'll have to do something really good to me so I don't look too bad next to you," Elizabeth said.

"Come on, Lizzy! You're a lot prettier than you think!" Jane remarked seriously.

Elizabeth smiled. "I guess I'll say I look alright, nothing like you, though."

"There's more than one kind of beauty, and you're put in the right dress, we'll look equally good," Jane said, and before Elizabeth could prolong the subject, she added, "I think I really am sleepy now. Good night, Lizzy."

"Good night, Jane," answered Elizabeth. Within minutes, they were fast asleep.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**That may have ended somewhat abruptly, but I was too eager to get the beginning out and see what people think. Please review it so that I can know what to do better, but be nice. This is my first fan-fiction. Thanks :)**

**--Sharikaaria **


	2. Chapter 2: Bingley and Darcy

_A Modern Pride and Prejudice_

**Chapter 2**

"What do you think?" Elizabeth asked, stepping out of her closet. The dress they had all chosen for Elizabeth clearly looked good, judging by Jane's comforting smile and Mrs. Bennet's squeal of delight. It was a rich, satiny dark green and had a neckline with sparkling silver embroidery. The skirt fell just above the knees.

"You look very pretty," Jane said.

Elizabeth looked skeptical and strode over to the mirror beside her dresser, viewing herself at different angles. "I guess I won't look so bad next to you."

"I'm serious! You probably look better than I do now!" Jane said earnestly.

"That is a heavy compliment," Elizabeth said, "but I don't have your golden locks or curves."

"No, you've got the perfect brunette look and plenty of curves," Jane replied. There was a slight edge to her voice which told Elizabeth she was absolutely sure, and Elizabeth gave up on the matter.

Mrs. Bennet said haughtily, "I told you green was your color. Now put on your necklace and hurry up, or you'll be late."

As Elizabeth had promised the night before, she would drive Jane and herself to the hotel, where the party would be held. Traffic did not delay them for long, and they smoothly arrived at their destination. The hotel was a tall, massive structure with a classy entrance and lobby, as the two sisters soon found out. Jane was lucky enough to find her boss within a minute of entering the place, and was courteously welcomed along with her sister.

Her boss, Mr. Bingley, was a tall, somewhat hefty man in his late fifties. He wore a crisp black suit and had good looks marked in his face. If he was younger, Elizabeth imagined, he must have been very handsome. Elizabeth's curiosity towards his son increased, and her hopes for Jane did likewise.

They all walked into the dining hall together. Elizabeth was surprised to see so many people there in such a large room. Intimidated a little, she straightened her posture and her outfit, determined to look good and not embarrass Jane.

"Charles, come here!" Mr. Bingley called out. A young man standing nearby turned around and approached him. With satisfaction, Elizabeth saw he was truly ideal, in terms of looks, at least. Like his father, Charles Bingley was tall and handsome. He had sandy brown hair and a good, friendly smile.

Elizabeth caught her sister's eye for a moment, giving her a small smirk. Jane composed herself, as her boss introduced her to his son.

"Charles, I'd like you to meet Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. Jane's been working under me for a couple years now, and Elizabeth is her sister. Jane, this is my son, Charles," said Mr. Bingley.

Charles extended a hand to both sisters, smiling politely at each. Elizabeth noticed another tall figure looming in the background, presumably someone that had followed Charles. He was a man, she saw, who looked about as old and equally attractive as Charles, but had a more serious and stern air.

"And there's Will, Will Darcy. He's Charles' friend," Mr. Bingley told Elizabeth and Jane. Will nodded to each of them. He appeared to have no interest in conversation like his friend and be contented by simply observing others.

Mr. Bingley was called on by some other people and left the other four to know each other better. Immediately, Charles began talking to Jane. Elizabeth turned to Will.

"Do you live around here, Will?" she asked him.

"No," he answered shortly. Elizabeth expected him to say something more.

After one silent moment, she tried again. "So you're visiting. Where are you from?"

"Across the country, near Los Angeles," said Will. Again, he made no attempt to talk more than necessary. He merely stared down at her. Elizabeth felt awkward under his gaze. Indeed, she thought, he was very tall.

She looked back at Jane and Charles. They were getting along well, much better than she was with Will.

When dinner started, they were all seated. Charles had conveniently sat next to Jane, and Elizabeth had inconveniently ended up beside Will. Elizabeth sighed. It would a long night. Periodically, she looked back at Will, and found he was still adamantly ignoring her. Jane was completely preoccupied with Charles and could only manage an apologetic glance towards Elizabeth every now and then.

Sadly, Elizabeth realized she and Will were most likely the only ones in the entire hall who weren't talking. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed by, and Will continued looking at nothing in particular. The surrounding chatter seemed to grow around them.

Too bored to contain herself any longer, Elizabeth attempted to talk once more. "Will, do you know many of the people here?"

Will paused before replying, perhaps out of surprise at hearing her talk to him again.

"No, except Charles and his father," he said.

"I see. We're in the same boat, then," Elizabeth said, smiling at how stupid she thought she sounded. "I'm just here with Jane. I don't work under Mr. Bingley like she does."

"What do you do?" Will asked.

Elizabeth almost stared. Will Darcy had just taken the effort to talk to her.

"I'm a plastic surgeon – for burns and other injuries, not cosmetics," she said. "What about you?"

"I've taken over my dad's business," he said. "He passed away a few years ago and left everything to me."

"You must be very busy. Free time would be valuable in your position," said Elizabeth, and he nodded.

"This is a little bit like my free time. I fly back home tomorrow," Will said.

"I guess you haven't been here very long."

"Only for a few days," Will told her, smiling wryly. "This time zone is getting to me. I can't fall asleep until half the night's over, and then I can't wake up."

Elizabeth gave a small laugh. "It's even worse when you fly to the other side of the earth."

"I've felt that before. Don't remind me of it," Will said.

The rest of dinner went on smoothly, as Will and Elizabeth talked more and more. Elizabeth began to feel the evening was not a waste after all, and Will grew increasingly relaxed with his surroundings. Once everyone began moving about again, Will suggested for Elizabeth to follow him. Soon, Elizabeth had forgotten Jane, Charles, and everything else. She was completely taken by Will, as he was with her.

They walked around and about together, and Will watched Elizabeth's fascination for the hotel's grandeur with some hilarity. He had been to many more five-star hotels than she had, although he did fully agree that this particular hotel was superb.

"Are you used to first-class hotels?" Elizabeth asked him, her eyes lit up animatedly, even playfully.

"I've been to lots of them, but I never get tired of them," Will said, smiling. He held her gaze for a moment, watching her dark eyes. They were fine eyes, he thought, with a nice almond shape.

Elizabeth blushed. "What?"

"Hm? Nothing," said Will. He silently cursed himself for his stupidity and looked away. He could feel Elizabeth's eyes fixed curiously on him, and quickly started on a new topic.

"You have one sister, then?" he asked.

"I have four other sisters. Three of them are younger than me and Jane's the oldest," said Elizabeth. She then realized she had forgotten about her family too. The contrast between Lydia's character and the high society in the hotel first neared her thoughts, but she pushed it away.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" she asked.

"One younger sister, Georgiana," said Will. He thought about telling her more, but Elizabeth's attention had slipped towards the time.

"I forgot about Jane!" Elizabeth cried out. Her watch showed it was eleven-thirty, far later than she had expected to stay.

"You've got to go?" Will asked.

Elizabeth nodded and quickly said good-bye, telling him she was happy to have met him, and left. She had to go, for Jane must have been wondering where she was, but she could not help feeling bad for leaving Will so soon. There had definitely been an instant where she saw his eyes grew distressed, not with a casual pain, but a real disappointment in seeing her leave.

"Lizzy, where were you?" Jane asked, when Elizabeth returned to her.

"Bathroom," Elizabeth lied. "I'm sorry if you got really bored while waiting."

Jane beamed. "Actually, Charles was just here, so it wasn't that bad."

The ride back home was full of talk about the party. Jane was very happy in meeting Charles, and Elizabeth listened to her as attentively as she could. With driving, Will, and Charles and Jane on her mind, Elizabeth had a lot to think of.

"I wish I could've helped you out with Will Darcy. He didn't talk at all!" Jane said.

"Oh, he started talking, eventually," said Elizabeth. For some reason, she did not feel like telling Jane how much she had liked Will. She wanted to block all thoughts of the man from her mind, maybe because it was too painful to think about him. She liked him very much, but she would probably never see him again.

"Lizzy, are you okay?" Jane asked her. Elizabeth pulled into the driveway at their home.

"I'm fine," she said. "Just fine."

She smiled, and was saved from Jane's inquisition when Mrs. Bennet burst out the front door, violently eager to hear the events of the evening.

"Jane! How was he?" said Mrs. Bennet. Elizabeth was already inside the house when Jane started to give their mother the details. She changed into her nightclothes and threw herself on her bed. The image of Will was still burned fresh in her mind, and it was not going to leave anytime soon.

"I'm being stupid," she muttered to herself. "It's not like he'd go for me after seeing…"

She could not finish the sentence. The meaning was obvious. Who would ever be attracted to a girl with such wild, mindless sisters, especially a man like Will Darcy? Thinking badly of her two youngest sisters did not make Elizabeth happy, but it was the truth. Kitty and Lydia were out of control.

"_He'll like you anyway_," said the voice in the back of her mind.

"Someone like him? Ah… Pull it together, Elizabeth," she said angrily. "He's gone. He won't come back."

"_Don't lose hope_," the voice said. It was an annoying voice, Elizabeth concluded.

"Shut up," she said to herself. "It was all a dream, only a dream."

The voice said nothing else, but its few words echoed in her head all night.

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**Well that's chapter two. Hopefully, it wasn't too rushed. I spent my Sunday evening writing this when I should have been doing homework, so I hope it'll be at least a little good. I'm honestly very, very curious to know what people will think of the story after this chapter. I'm thinking the next chapter could be out by next week, although I can never be sure.**** Please read and review! **** Thanks!**

**--Sharikaaria**


	3. Chapter 3: A Change of Plans

_A Modern Pride and Prejudice_

**Chapter 3**

Will Darcy. Darcy. Will. Will Darcy. That was all that repeated through Elizabeth Bennet's head. She thought herself possessed. Never, in her entire life, had she fallen for a man so badly. The memory of him was still embedded in her memory, freshly as ever. All attention was fortunately steered away from her, since Mrs. Bennet was set on repeatedly asking Jane about Charles Bingley. However, her less than usual amount of absent-mindedness disturbed the more conscious members of the family.

"Lizzy, are you alright?" Mr. Bennet asked her. "You look like you didn't sleep all night."

"I didn't. I must have eaten something weird," Elizabeth said, faking a yawn. Her father looked unconvinced, but he averted his attention back to Lydia, who was curled up sideways in her chair.

"Lydia, please, sit properly," Mr. Bennet said. Lydia pretended not to hear and continued painting her nails with bright red polish. Mr. Bennet eyed it uneasily. Red nails, an exposing red tank top, and a pair of very short white shorts were an unfriendly combination to his eyes.

Jane spoke to Lydia for him. "Put something on. You can't go out like that; it looks like you're wearing underwear."

Lydia stuck her tongue out at her. Jane turned to Elizabeth for support, and she was astonished to see her sister was blissfully unaware of the situation.

"Lizzy? Lizzy!" Jane said, desperately trying to gain her attention. At last, Elizabeth broke out of her reverie and looked from Jane, to Lydia, then to Mr. Bennet, and then back to Lydia.

"What are you wearing?" she exclaimed.

"Not you too," said Lydia, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, me too," Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow at her. "That top looks like it's four sizes too small for you. I can see at least two inches of your stomach and, well, your chest."

Lydia shrugged and said, "You don't have to get angry at me for having a sense of style."

The corners around Mr. Bennet's mouth tightened. The thought of his daughter's "style" troubled him greatly.

_His blood pressure must be rising_, Elizabeth thought fearfully. Jane begged Lydia to wear something better again, and as she was ignored a second time, Elizabeth clambered up the stairs to Lydia's room, in search of appropriate attire for her sister.

Elizabeth's attention was diverted by her own reflection in the hallway mirror. She stopped to look at herself, and Will Darcy returned to her thoughts. Jane was correct about her. Elizabeth could not deny her own beauty. She did have long, sleek brown hair and a pair of long-lashed hazel eyes.

Smirking at her thoughts, she shook her head. "All for one night! I should stop thinking about him…"

Only she didn't. Everything about Will Darcy, his face, his steady gaze, took over all her reflections. She would attempt to think about something wholly unrelated, such as her friend's new television set, but then she remembered her friend had a boyfriend. A boyfriend…

Downstairs, Mary and Lydia were having another heated discussion. Elizabeth, now actually diverted from all idea of Will Darcy, entered the scene only to hear mindless insults from Lydia and Mary's keen observations on the importance of morality. Standing wide-eyed in the background was Kitty, as Jane frantically tried to separate the other sisters.

"You're such a stupid bookworm! Get a life!" Lydia shouted. Mary was offended and began, in voice trembling with anger, to recommend various other, better things that Lydia could do to improve herself. Elizabeth was tired, tired of enduring Lydia's rudeness every time she met her. The difference between herself and Darcy became even more apparent when she looked at her family.

"Stop it!" she said loudly. Taken aback, Lydia and Mary fell silent, watching Elizabeth with surprise and fascination.

"All I can remember about home nowadays is you two fighting. Lydia, you could use every bit of Mary's advice," she said strongly. "And Mary, you could tone down your recommendations. Anyone would get mad."

A startled silence followed her words. Mary crossed her arms, pleased enough with Elizabeth's advice for Lydia. Her youngest sister, however, cast a fiery glance towards Elizabeth and marched out of the room, purposely knocking the phone off the table as she went. The phone clattered to the hardwood floor, and a back piece fell off of it. Lydia was already too far away to care.

Elizabeth picked up the phone and fixed it, putting it back at its original place. When she had finished, Mary was already back on the sofa, reading a thick novel, and Kitty had switched on the television.

Jane, through all her sweet temper, was willing to leave the house. She led Elizabeth out into the hallway and proposed a very welcome idea.

"Charlotte's leaving for Los Angeles today, except she forgot her purse at the party, and she left her money and credit cards in it. I'm going to return it to her. Do you want to come?" Jane asked. Charlotte Lucas was the daughter of their neighbor, Mrs. Lucas, and a colleague of Jane's. She was also good friends with Elizabeth.

"Definitely, I would. It's been a madhouse in here morning," Elizabeth said, thoroughly relieved.

With Jane at the wheel, they both drove to the airport. Elizabeth dialed Charlotte's cell phone number using her own mobile phone, and luckily, Charlotte picked up.

"Hey Charlotte, me and Jane were dropping by to give you your purse back. You left it last night at the hotel," Elizabeth said. Charlotte replied with thanks and gave directions to where she was.

The sisters reached her and got out of their car, handing her the bag.

"Ridiculous," Charlotte said, laughing. "I should be more responsible, but thank you so much!"

Elizabeth heard Jane make some reply, but she could not make out the specific words, since her focus was suddenly shifted to her left, where two familiar people stood. Her heart jumped at seeing Charles Bingley with Will Darcy.

Charles noticed her and walked towards her, greeting her happily and Jane even more so. Will followed him much like he had the previous night, only hovering somewhere in the background.

He caught Elizabeth's eye for a fleeting moment and sharply turned his head away. Elizabeth blinked, utterly bewildered. Will looked like he might have been offended at seeing her again.

Shortly after, he, Charles, and Charlotte all had to catch their flights. Will paid no attention to Elizabeth, said nothing, not even "good-bye." He didn't make any further eye contact with her and left the scene hurriedly, seeming a little discomforted.

Elizabeth silently followed Jane into the car and only spoke when they were buckled and ready to go.

"He was so talkative yesterday," she said.

"Who?" Jane said.

"Will Darcy. He barely looked at me just now and didn't talk at all. I guess the world's full of strange people," Elizabeth said, trying to sound as light as possible.

"Charles told me he doesn't talk that much with strangers. He has to think pretty highly of someone to talk – talk normally – with new people," Jane said. If she had not been concentrating on the road, she would have caught Elizabeth's confused expression.

_He couldn't have liked me, or he would have talked to me just now_, Elizabeth thought. The way Will had averted his gaze was so decided that a small, throbbing pain was left in Elizabeth's chest. Not much later, the pain turned into annoyance.

_I wouldn't get along well with such a bipolar person anyway_, she concluded.

At home, Mrs. Bennet was overly excited, waving a sheet of paper joyfully in the air.

"To California we go!" she cried out.

"What? Why?" Elizabeth said exasperatedly. This was too much of a coincidence to be true, that she would end up in the same state as Will. However, it would mean nothing if they didn't go to Los Angeles.

Mrs. Bennet's next statement killed all of her hopes. "We have an invitation from our old friends, the Collins! We haven't seen them years. Their son must be all grown up by now. So, we get to go to Los Angeles. I think it's about time we went on a vacation."

"It's almost summertime," Kitty said, nodding approvingly.

"I would stay back. It would be one less ticket for us to pay," said Mr. Bennet. Mrs. Bennet was shocked and began an entire speech on why her husband should go to Los Angeles. At the end of the discussion, she was defeated, yet still happy that she and her daughters would be able to go.

The tickets were bought that night, and Elizabeth went to bed with a mixture of very different feelings. On one end, she was happy that she would be able to travel across the country. On the other, the possibility of meeting Will again, though slight, bothered her.

Jane, lying next to her, said softly, "The Collins' are pretty rich, from what mom says. They're also connected to the Bourgh family."

"Bourgh family?"

"Yeah, a really rich bunch of people."

"I've had enough of rich people for now," Elizabeth said.

"Why, because that Darcy pretended that you didn't exist today?"

"Sort of," Elizabeth replied gruffly, ashamed at how easily Jane could predict her. "I just don't get it. He was so nice yesterday and he changed overnight."

"That was a little weird. He should've at least said something to you."

"I think he might've gotten insulted by me glancing at him."

"Who knows…"

Will slowly faded away from Elizabeth's mentality over the next four weeks. Elizabeth thought of him less and less, and she only recalled him when she began packing. For whatever reason, she was a lot more critical about what dresses and outfits to dump in her suitcase than usual. She matched different colors and styles, and carefully organized her formal clothing. Jewels and shoes came next, and after raging through her entire wardrobe several times over, she was moderately satisfied.

"Jane!" she called out. Her older sister walked into the bedroom and jumped at the messy state of the closet.

Elizabeth gave her little time to comment. "I'm busy right now, but please, please make sure Lydia's packed _good_ clothes."

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**I was really tired while writing this, but I hope it was at least okay. Coming next: Lizzy in LA, and a deeper look at Will Darcy's opinion of her. R&R! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4: More Than Meets the Eye

_A Modern Pride and Prejudice_

**Chapter 4**

The flight to Los Angeles was smooth and felt short, probably because Elizabeth slept through most of it. She was happy to have a window seat from which she could gaze at the land when she was awake. She, her sisters, and Mrs. Bennet were without Mr. Bennet on the trip. Mr. Bennet was sure the Collins would be fine without him and was also secretly eager to enjoy some peace at home. Elizabeth could understand his wishes and was the only one, except for Jane, who was not shaking her head at Mr. Bennet's point-blank refusal.

The plane landed at the Los Angeles International Airport. After retrieving baggage, Mrs. Bennet and her daughters waited outside for the Collins to show up. In merely five minutes, a shiny white van stopped before them.

A young man got out of the car and kindly welcomed the Bennets to Los Angeles. He took all of their suitcases and put them in the trunk, and then led them into the van, which was spacious enough for such a large group.

Mrs. Collins, sitting in the front passenger seat, greeted them. "It's been so long! I'm so happy all of you got here fine. How was the flight?"

Mrs. Bennet began to complain about how cramped the airplane seats were. The young man, Derek Collins, started talking to Elizabeth.

"You're Elizabeth Bennet, right?" he said. Elizabeth nodded. Derek grinned and proceeded to name all of the Bennet girls correctly. Elizabeth was mildly impressed. She took interest in talking to him, but by the time they arrived at his home, she came to realize he was a bit self-centered and presumptuous. All he ever talked about was what he had accomplished, and he expected compliments from everyone.

_He looks okay, not much compared to Will_, Elizabeth thought. Derek's dark hair strongly reminded her of Will Darcy. While he did possess a reasonable appearance, there was nothing notable in it as there was with Will.

Kitty, Lydia, and Mary had tired of him already, and Jane and Elizabeth were the only ones left to talk to him. The elder sisters did it only out of courtesy.

"I earned enough to buy my parents a spa. It's top-notch, and no one can get a better one, except for extremely rich people. You can wonder what I saved up for that," said Derek proudly. Elizabeth smiled politely.

As Mrs. Collins served tea, Derek went on. "I worked my way up to becoming friends with the Debourgh family. Well, I guess I serve them, in a way, but I still know them."

Mr. Collins said, "He got us some really good friends. We get invited to nice parties now."

"Oh yes!" Mrs. Collins intervened. "The Debourgh family knows all sorts of high-class businessmen. There are the Fishers, the Smiths, and the Darcy family, and a few others."

"Darcy?" Elizabeth wondered aloud.

"Do you know them?" Derek asked her. He looked surprised and disappointed, now that he was excused from elaborately describing another rich family.

"I met a Will Darcy last month," said Elizabeth.

"Tall, serious guy, just a few years older than you?" Derek said.

"That sounds about right."

"Yeah, he's the one I'm talking about!"

Mrs. Collins added, "The Debourghs are throwing a party, and we're all invited. Chances are we'll see him there too. He's good friends with them, Derek."

"Oh, when are we going?"

"Day after tomorrow, at around six o' clock in the evening."

For this, Elizabeth felt excited and unexcited at the same time. She did not feel like Will would ever talk to her again, but the thrill in meeting new people would compensate for that.

During the next day and a half, Elizabeth was constantly followed by Derek. She listened, laughed, and talked, wanting to get away for half the time. Finally, three hours before the Debourghs' party, she had an excuse to leave.

"I've got to get ready now, pick out what I'm wearing and all," she told him, and speedily left before he could beseech her to stay for another half hour. Part of what she said was a lie. She had picked out most of her party dresses before flying to California. The only thing left for her to do was select which color she would wear.

Jane said, "I like the dark red."

Elizabeth inspected the dress. It was similar to the one she wore at Jane's business party; it reached her knees and had the same intricate neckline, but there was a velvety texture to the embroidered fabric. She smiled at the choice and changed into it.

When she and Jane were ready, they went downstairs and joined everyone else. Mrs. Bennet rushed to scrutinize each of her daughters' dresses.

To Jane, she said excitedly, "You look so good in blue!"

She thought Lydia looked okay. Lydia, who had been prevented from taking all of her favorite clothing, did look respectable enough. Mary and Kitty were also fine.

"Well, Lizzy, it looks like you tried to look good today, and I think it's worked!" Mrs. Bennet exclaimed. Elizabeth smiled, satisfied with herself. Earning her mother's praise, especially after Mrs. Bennet had looked at Jane first, was generally rare for her.

To her left, Derek beamed at her. His obvious appreciation might have been okay, had there not been something different in his expression. Elizabeth was concerned. Hopefully, Derek Collins was not becoming attracted to her.

In her suspicion, Elizabeth sat as far away from him as possible in the van. He looked in her direction frequently, and she chose to ignore him by talking to Mary.

"Parties aren't always that fun," Mary said. "This one might be better, with all the high society."

Elizabeth wished her sister had not said that. At the words "high society," Derek excitedly lapsed into another long report of all the great people he knew. Time had cut him short, however. They had reached the Debourghs' home, a grand mansion surrounded by beautiful trees and gardens.

The path to the front door was long and gave the Bennets and Collins enough time to admire everything in sight. Elizabeth observed a row of evergreens at least twice as tall as she was, and drew near enough a bed of flowers to take in its sweet scent. Already, she was invigorated.

The Bennets and Collins were received by Mrs. Debourgh herself, who took delight in meeting her friends and becoming acquainted with new ones. Mrs. Debourgh was a woman in her fifties, and, as Elizabeth could tell, seemed to have aged with grace. Mrs. Collins introduced the Bennets.

"Wow," said Kitty, looking up and around. The foyer was enormous. A giant chandelier hung from the ceiling, laden with dazzling crystals. Two curved staircases on either side of the room wound to the second floor.

"This way," Mrs. Debourgh said, leading them into the main room, where all the guests were. Elizabeth never thought so many elegant people could ever be collected in the same, elegant room. It was clear that all of the guests were dressed in expensive outfits, and they all talked intelligently, or at least, extremely well.

Mary looked as though her dreams had come true. She had always wanted to mix with smart people. Kitty and Lydia looked bored beyond words and resolved to talk only to each other. Elizabeth was fine with their decision. The less they talked to others, the less they would reveal their intolerable behavior.

Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Collins, and Mr. Collins followed Mrs. Debourgh to a group of people. The Miss Bennets and Derek stayed behind. Derek left for the food table, which was heavily laden with fruits and costly treats.

Elizabeth explored the place by herself. Large paintings were hung on the walls, each holding an interesting concept behind its artwork. She stopped to analyze each one, and then made the effort of talking to people, taking care to be a good distance away from Derek.

A tall, blonde woman near her smiled at her and said, "I don't think we've met before."

"No, we haven't," Elizabeth replied, also smiling. "I'm Elizabeth, Elizabeth Bennet."

"I'm Anne Debourgh."

"Oh, so you own this house? Well, technically your parents do, but…"

"Yes, my parents own it. I visit every month–"

Mrs. Debourgh came into view and called for her daughter.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll have to talk to you later," said Anne, and she left Elizabeth, who was not left alone again for long. Behind her, a very deep and familiar voice spoke her name.

She turned around and saw Will Darcy.

"Hi," she said abruptly. There was a pause, where neither of them said anything. Elizabeth was startled at seeing Will, particularly when she had not expected him to be interested in her. But then, talking to someone who you were familiar with did not mark any great interest. Will was just being polite, Elizabeth concluded.

"It's been a while," she said.

"Yes, it has. I never expected you to be here," said Will.

"I'm staying with the Collins for a week. They're family friends, and we're just visiting."

Will looked in Derek's direction. "I see."

There was something satirical in his air. His cool grey eyes were still stony and serious, and Elizabeth felt he regarded the Collins with little high opinion. Will's gaze returned to her.

"When did you arrive?" he asked.

"Day before yesterday."

"And you've caught up with the time zone?" Will said, smirking a little. Elizabeth was amazed at how he'd alluded to a conversation that happened a month ago. They had talked about time zones in their first meeting.

"I get tired a little earlier, that's about all," Elizabeth said.

Will then asked her several questions, after her family, her interests, and more. By his curiosity in her, Elizabeth readily forgot how he had blatantly ignored her at the airport. They soon fell into the same manner of conversation as they had at Jane's business party. It was not long before Will's hard eyes had softened considerably.

Everything unplanned was happening. Time flew past them. At around nine o' clock, Elizabeth feared she would have to leave Will, and then, in all likelihood, never meet him again. Little did she know that Will felt the same.

Will, unlike her, was not so reserved as to say nothing about it. "Maybe we could talk longer if you… if you would want to go with me to the park. It's around here."

He had caught Elizabeth off guard. Elizabeth said nothing, alarmed yet pleased. She saw Will's earnest expression, and all of her doubts melted away. So what if she left? As long as Jane knew she was gone, everything would be alright.

A moment later, Elizabeth was with her sister, and said in a low voice, "I'll be going out with–"

"With Will Darcy?" Jane whispered back. Elizabeth turned red.

Jane shook her head. "Maybe it's because I know you too well, but you've been talking only to him."

Elizabeth was unable to make any witty comeback, since she knew Jane was absolutely right. Regardless, she was happy knowing someone would be able to trace her. Jane would be able to tell everyone her sister had not run away.

The impropriety of leaving a party to be alone with a man hit Elizabeth's conscious hard. Its insensibility and foolishness made her reluctant to follow Will, but then she considered how it was like leaving early and then going on a date.

_You've only seen him for three days in your life_, the voice in the back of her head told her. Elizabeth blushed guiltily. Yesterday, she would have thought accepting such an invitation was out of the question.

Will sensed her embarrassment. "If you don't want to go, you can stay here."

"I'm fine," Elizabeth said. "Except, you haven't told me much about where we're going."

"We're going to a place several streets down," said Will. "It's the neighborhood park."

Elizabeth was slightly relieved to know they weren't going too far away. Will led her to his car, and they drove to the park, passing many large manors as they went.

The park was beautiful, especially at night. Streetlights were located along the paved paths. Large, leafy trees stood all over the property, and at the very center, there was a large fountain. Tall shoots of water spouted from the fountain in repeating patterns. Elizabeth, intrigued by it, hurried towards it with Will.

"So pretty," she sighed, sitting at its marble edge. The moonlight glistened on the water's surface. Will joined Elizabeth. He did watch the fountain, but his sight was set on Elizabeth for much longer.

Elizabeth noticed his gaze and attempted to be playful. "Are you trying to scare me?"

"Maybe," Will said, grinning. It was too dark for either of them to see they were blushing.

As when they had first met, Elizabeth could not find anything to say. Although she had many questions, most of them were too awkward to ask. At the moment, she was wondering why he had suddenly asked her to go to the park with him, alone.

_He likes you a lot_, her mind said to her. For once, she did not hate what it said.

"You know, I never thought I'd see you again," Will said.

"Neither did I," Elizabeth answered, laughing. "It's a big coincidence, not that I mind it."

"I don't mind it either. You're good to talk to. I figured that out last month."

"I thank you for the compliment, but I never thought I was exceptional in talking to people."

"Anyone can talk nicely. The challenge is in keeping people interested. You can do that."

"You can keep people interested too. I'm still trying to figure you out."

"Actually, a lot of people don't like talking to me. And now, you're making me curious. What have you figured out about me so far?"

Elizabeth looked at him directly in the eye.

A mischievous smile formed on her face as she said, "I see that you don't make any sense at all."

"Why's that?" Will asked. Elizabeth made no response.

Will moved closer to her. "Do you want me to start making sense?"

"If it would do me good," Elizabeth said, not knowing whether she wanted to hear what he would say next.

"Let's meet again, before you go."

-----------------------------------------------

Elizabeth was slightly dazed with happiness when she returned to the party. She had managed to arrive just in time, and no one but Jane knew she had gone off with Will. From there, she left with her family and the Collins family.

Derek had, unfortunately, seated himself in the car seat next to her.

"You talked to Darcy a lot. I didn't know you knew him that well," he said.

"That was only the third time I'd met him," said Elizabeth.

"Impressive guy, he is. I haven't talked to him much," Derek said. "Anne is really lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you didn't know? He's engaged to Anne Debourgh."

This piece of information landed on Elizabeth's mind like a heavy brick. She was silent, shocked. Derek didn't notice, as he began speaking of the finer details of the marriage, the exact date, etc. Elizabeth heard only a fraction of what he said. She could not understand why Will would want to be alone with her when he was already engaged.

_He's a cheating moron_, said the little voice in her head.

_No_, she thought, _he's too nice to be like that._

_Appearances can be deceiving_, said the voice.

A few minutes later, she reached Derek's home and did not hesitate to go upstairs. She rummaged in her purse for a slip of paper Will had given her. It contained his contact information, including his phone number and email address. Angrily, she crumpled it up and threw it in the trash bin.

Why would Will talk to her so much and admire her if he was already engaged? His invitation to the park was enough to tell her he liked her, and Derek's information was enough to tell her Will was a cheater.

Elizabeth was angry at herself for falling for someone so immoral. She would never tell anyone, except perhaps Jane, but she knew if her father was aware of her situation, he would have been disappointed in her. Mr. Bennet prized Elizabeth as a smart girl. With Will, Elizabeth thought, she didn't seem as intelligent as she thought she was.

Anne Debourgh came to her thoughts. Instead of harboring jealousy, Elizabeth felt sorry that such a sweet, smart, and pretty woman would be led into marriage with an unfaithful man.

_This will teach me_, she thought, _to be more careful with men, especially men like Will. There was so much more to him than was met at the eye._

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**I sorta wrote that without knowing where it would go, but the result is the above. As usual, I would appreciate any and all reviews! Thanks!**

**Next: A few more friends are met in LA, Derek wishes for something strange, a new, handsome young man meets the Bennet girls... and, of course, the chemistry between Lizzy and Will deepens further.  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Who to Trust

_A Modern Pride and Prejudice_

**Chapter 5**

Elizabeth's cell phone rang. She picked it up and looked at the number that was calling her. It was familiar. It belonged to Will Darcy. Scowling, Elizabeth shoved her phone into her purse, leaving its rings unanswered. Nothing would make her want to talk to him ever again. She could have discussed and possibly yelled at him about cheating on Anne, but she did not trust herself to say what she felt correctly.

Sparks of hope came to her every few minutes, suggesting that maybe Derek was deceived or had not gotten his facts straight. Then, she realized, Derek was so obsessed with all his connections that it was nearly impossible for him to be wrong. After all, he recited them at least five times a day.

By afternoon, Elizabeth had two missed calls that she did not feel like returning. To make things worse, Derek followed her around all day. He was dense and, after three hours of being with her, unable to see that Elizabeth was not feeling her best.

He only stopped talking when they were all forced to go out. Elizabeth sat between Jane and Kitty throughout the car ride, happy that she was free of Derek for at least some time. They headed for the Sunset Towers hotel, located near Hollywood. Apparently, the Collins had to go to another gathering there.

"Too many parties," Elizabeth said glumly.

"How can you say that?" Kitty said, astonished. "We probably won't come here again for a while."

There was sense in what she said, for once. Jane agreed with her and cast a concerned glance towards Elizabeth. She knew something was wrong and had not had time to inquire after it. Sadly, now was not the right time, with everyone's ears ready to catch whatever was said.

Half an hour passed before they reached Sunset Towers. The hotel was a tall, enormous structure surrounded by palm trees. Elizabeth's mood improved simply by looking at it.

The party was held out on the terrace. A large variety of people were there, including Charles Bingley, who looked very pleased to see Jane again. Will Darcy was also there, and Elizabeth purposely slipped out of his view.

She walked along the terrace and found Lydia talking to a man she did not know. The man was built and attractive, with toned skin and wavy brown hair.

Lydia saw Elizabeth and beckoned her to come closer. Elizabeth did so, and Lydia introduced her new companion.

"This is George Wickham. George, this is Elizabeth, my sister," said Lydia, not taking her eyes off him. Elizabeth felt ashamed that Lydia would not stop ogling at him, and tried to draw his attention away to herself instead. She asked generic questions, who he was, where he came from, what he did. George gave her very vague answers about his background. Elizabeth did gather that he had jumped from engineering, to law school, to insurance, and then to business.

Beside her, Lydia heard not a word of George's reply. All she could do was take in his fine form and wish he was hers. Elizabeth knew she would have to straighten Lydia out after the party. Her youngest sister was only sixteen, and this man was at least in his mid-twenties. To her, George Wickham looked respectable enough, so she did not trouble herself too much with Lydia's antics.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Derek approached them.

"Elizabeth!" he said. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Inwardly groaning, Elizabeth followed him into a comparatively vacant region of the terrace.

Derek did not wait to express his thoughts. "Elizabeth, I would like to ask you something."

Elizabeth waited for him to go on, completely oblivious to what he was about to say.

"You're one of the few people that talk to me, Elizabeth," said Derek, in his usual speech-like manner of talking. "And for that, I'll ask you to go out with me."

A moment was required for Elizabeth to register what he had just said. She gaped at him with disbelief, and Derek misinterpreted her expression for pleased surprise.

Derek said, "I believe we'll be happy together, and–"

"Hold on a second," said Elizabeth. "I haven't even known you for a week, and you already want to date me?"

"Why wait? I like you, you seem to be comfortable with me," said Derek mildly.

Elizabeth turned away for a moment to organize her thoughts.

_Cool yourself, Elizabeth_, she thought, _just don't turn him down too badly, get it done as painlessly as possible._

"Right," she said, turning back to him. "I'm sorry, Derek, but I can't go out with you. I haven't known you for that long, and I like you more as a friend."

Derek looked at her blankly for a few seconds. Elizabeth was afraid she'd hurt him, and because she felt nothing more was to be said, she gave him a hasty "good-bye" and walked away.

Where she was walking did not matter. As long as she was away from Derek, she would be happy enough.

"I handled that badly," she muttered to herself. One part of her forgave her, since she never liked Derek in any special way and had the full right to reject him. Besides, it was not like Derek had been the greatest gentleman. He had given her very flat, colorless reasons for liking her. Another part of Elizabeth, though somewhat smaller, abused her for what she said. Hurting Derek was one thing she had not wanted to do, however inevitable it was.

Lost in her thoughts, Elizabeth no longer remembered exactly where she was going, and she walked headlong into a person.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said, looking up who she had run into. Horrified, she saw it was Will. He looked as calm and level-headed as ever, and Elizabeth was agitated that she could not find any trace of a lie in his face.

"So we meet again," said Will, smiling.

"Yes," said Elizabeth, collecting herself. "How have you been?"

"Good," Will replied, shrugging. "I tried calling you a couple times, but it doesn't matter too much, now that I can talk in person."

"Yeah, I saw some missed calls. I was away from my phone for some time and it was too late to return your calls by the time I saw them," Elizabeth lied.

Will said, "It wouldn't have mattered if you woke me up. I didn't go to sleep early anyway."

Infuriated as she was with him, Elizabeth could not believe the extreme amount of sincerity in his voice. Inside herself, she was struggling about whether she should have trusted Derek's word so much.

Behind them, Anne Debourgh came into view.

"Oh look, there's Anne," said Elizabeth, stealing a look at Will to see how he bore it. With surprise, she saw he merely glanced at Anne with perfect indifference.

"Hi," said Anne cheerfully, catching Elizabeth's eye. She walked over to join her and Will, who had suddenly become as rigid as he was at Jane's business party. Unaware of Will's obvious resentment, she locked her arm with his, smiling at him. Will only answered her with a bored, unenthusiastic nod. Elizabeth was momentarily confused at their cold relationship.

Anne, understanding her expression as curiosity, said, "Oh, you probably don't know, Will and I are engaged."

"Really, I didn't know that. Congratulations!" Elizabeth said warmly. Anne beamed, but Will just stared at the ground, wishing he would somehow melt away from the scene.

Sensing his discomfort, Elizabeth pursued the subject further, attempting analyze his reactions. "Actually, I think Derek mentioned something about an engagement, but it was just in passing. When's the wedding date?"

Will's face grew more distressed, and still, Anne hardly noticed.

"August 25th," said Anne. Just as someone else called Anne, Elizabeth made her congratulations again and said "good-bye." When Anne had left, she turned back to Will, one eyebrow raised. There was no need for her to tell him what was on her mind, since she knew he understood perfectly well. The perplexed expression on his face was enough.

He began, "Eliza–"

"I never knew you were engaged," interrupted Elizabeth, smiling frostily. "Well, I hope you'll be happy."

She was turning to leave, and Will anxiously said, "Wait! Let me explain–"

"No, no excuses. How can you ask me out to a park with you, at night, alone, while you're already engaged?" Elizabeth asked, folding her arms.

"I don't like Anne."

"Which explains why you're marrying her?"

"Look, let's sit down and talk this out."

"No," Elizabeth stated coolly. In her heart, she knew she was not up to dealing with such a person, a man tangled in a bitter relationship with his fiancée. She did not want her life to turn into a soap opera, especially with someone she had only met with four times in her entire life. Having nothing more to say to him, she walked off, disregarding his evident surprise and disappointment.

The confusion in her own mind was soon pushed aside when she saw Lydia with George, again. To her shock and disapproval, Lydia was separated only a few inches from him, smiling at him gaily. George was quick enough to notice Elizabeth's presence, and immediately stepped away.

"Hello again," he said, appearing completely undisturbed.

"Hello," said Elizabeth.

Although she was aware of Lydia's anger at the interruption, she told her, "Please find mom and bring me her cell. Mine's out of batteries."

Lydia reluctantly obliged and left. Somewhat disconcerted by her leaving, George attempted to compose himself in front of Elizabeth, who gave him a hint of a smile.

"You're looking a little down," George observed.

Elizabeth groaned. "Yeah, people are giving me a hard time today."

"In what way?"

"I'd rather not speak of it."

"Fair enough, where are you from?"

"East coast."

"I see, and Lydia's your only sister…?"

"No, she's the youngest. After that is Kitty, Mary, then me, and Jane."

"Five sisters, that's cool."

Elizabeth smirked doubtfully. "Sometimes it can get stressful, but I don't mind it. Do you have any siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," said George. "My father pass–"

He stopped, staring over Elizabeth's shoulder at something that seemed to unnerve him. Elizabeth turned around and saw Will looking at George with the same astonishment. Not a word passed between any of them, and Will resolved to leave as quickly as possible, scarcely glancing at Elizabeth, who was then thrown into deep curiosity.

George watched Will go uneasily. "You don't know him, do you?"

"We've met a few times, but not really, no," said Elizabeth.

"Good," said George seriously. "He's given me a lot of trouble in the past, no wonder he was practically running away."

Catching himself, he corrected his face with a rueful smile. "No one's gaining anything through living in the past, though. I've learned my lesson, he hasn't, that's all there is to it."

Elizabeth mulled over his words for a few seconds. "Lesson? Well, I suppose it's none of my business."

"It doesn't really matter. His family and mine had been close friends for at least a few generations, but when it came to a business deal, he cheated me out flat. I was broke after that, which is why I tried to build my skills in different fields. None of them worked, so here I am, back to the business career. I just wish it was going as well as it was before Darcy basically obliterated my work."

George noticed Elizabeth's amazement, and shrugged.

"It's okay," he added. "What's done is done. I'm reasonably well off now, so the damage isn't too bad."

Lydia returned with the cell phone, scowling at Elizabeth. Clearly, she was eager to spend more time at George, barely removing her eyes from him even while giving her sister the phone. Her elder sister was ashamed at her behavior and, in the midst of devising another plan to separate her from George, was told coldly that her mother wanted to see her.

"Does she really?" Elizabeth muttered as she searched for her mother. She soon found that her mother had not wanted her at all and that Lydia had tried to get rid of her. Elizabeth concluded it was reasonable payback for her own scheme to remove Lydia from George. However, she was disconcerted when she could not find either of them again.

Tired and bored, she moved to the tables of food and got a small bit of tiramisu. The cool coffee flavor melted in her mouth.

_Mmm_, she thought, _I'll be fine as long as I have food_.

She went back inside the hotel and sat down on a comfortable chair, resting her forehead in her palms. The feel of her hands was cool and soothing.

Half an hour later, she was happy her family decided it was time to be gone. Again, she took care to seat herself away from Derek in the van. Lydia seemed more content and quiet than usual, but no one except Elizabeth noticed.

Apparently, Jane had gotten along with Charles as well as ever. Elizabeth was glad that at least two people had spent their time at the party nicely. Her own situation was horrible. She had received the honor of turning down one man she disliked, reprimanded the one she used to like, and getting to know another who Lydia was running after.

All in all, her day had gone badly. When they had returned to the Collins' home, she sluggishly climbed the stairs and fell into bed, squeezing her eyes shut in hope of falling asleep. Only Jane could tell there was something wrong.

"Lizzy, are you okay?" she asked. Elizabeth gave a muffled reply through the blanket. She said something of Derek, and then progressed to Lydia and George Wickham, who they talked of more.

"We should talk to her, or tell mom," said Jane, concerned.

"Mom's too busy talking to Mrs. Collins. We should talk to her," Elizabeth said, now sitting up.

"That never has any effect. We need a better way to get the point across."

Elizabeth paused. "The only other outlet we have is our parents."

"Well, you sleep. You've had it rough. I'll go talk to Lydia."

"No, I'll go with you! What?" Elizabeth said, smirking. "I'm not so weak as to lie in bed because of all my emotional problems."

Jane laughed, and they left the room to search for Lydia. They found her in her room, talking on her phone. Lydia jumped at their arrival and hurriedly said good-bye to whoever she was speaking to.

Stopping at the doorway, Elizabeth asked, "Who was that?"

"Just – just a friend, a friend back at home. Ally Cross, you know her, right?" said Lydia, her voice strengthening as she spoke more. Unluckily for her, she was not convincing enough to drive away Elizabeth's curiosity completely.

Jane pressed on to the important matter. "Lydia, you met someone named George Wickham today?"

"Oh, please," said Lydia exasperatedly. "I meet one guy and you both explode at me."

"It's not that," said Elizabeth. "You need to reserve yourself a bit more. It looks bad if you're trying to paste yourself against him, and you only met him today."

"What I do is my business," Lydia said.

Jane was more worried than ever. "I hate to tell you this, but it makes you look almost… shameless. It's very embarrassing to be in a position like that."

"Whatever."

Lydia pushed past her while making her way to the door and strode out, ignoring Elizabeth's shock. Jane rubbed her arm, where Lydia had bumped into her.

"Disgusting," Elizabeth said, shaking her head.

"But she is our sister. We should give her a chance," said Jane.

"How many more chances, Jane? She's sixteen and already hitting on men more than ten years older than herself."

Jane sighed heavily. Both sisters were at a loss at what to do.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth went to bed early that night, at around nine-thirty. Easily enough, she dozed off, but it did not seem like long before she was shaken awake by Jane.

"Wha…?" she mumbled, blearily gazing up. The room was dark, and the sky was still impenetrably black. On her left, the clock said it was three o' clock in the morning. On her right, Jane was intently waiting for her to get up, her face pale and shaky.

"Get up, Lizzy! We have a problem!"

"Huh?" Elizabeth said, pushing herself up.

"Lydia's run away!" Jane cried out. Elizabeth blinked. Surely, she was still dreaming. Lydia could not, would not run off.

Jane went on, "Derek was up late on his laptop, and he saw her running out the driveway toward someone's car. The car drove away before he could do anything."

"Whose car?" Elizabeth asked, astounded. Jane shrugged.

Five minutes later, Elizabeth had changed into some long shorts, a t-shirt, and jacket. She left her hair down, though it was a mess. So was her family's situation, she knew.

Mrs. Bennet was sitting on the sofa downstairs, crying into a tissue Mrs. Collins had given her. Next to her, Derek looked serious and concerned.

"Derek, what happened?" said Elizabeth, rushing to them.

"Lydia just ran out and got into someone's car. It was too dark for me to see the license plate or who was with her," said Derek.

Elizabeth gritted her teeth, lost in thought. Soon, she remembered how she and Jane had intruded upon Lydia's secretive phone call.

She ran back upstairs, past a startled Jane, and into Lydia's room, where Kitty lay awakened by her intrusion. Lydia's purse and all its contents were gone, but Elizabeth searched the room for various things, maybe a note. The waste basket was pushed under the bedside table, and she pulled it out.

A crumpled ball of paper was inside it, and she eagerly took and opened it up. Some quick writing, in an unfamiliar hand, was scribbled there. It said:

_2 am_

_H-peninsula_

_turns_

Elizabeth pocketed the piece of paper and told Kitty the news. "Lydia has run away. Come downstairs and help mom out."

"She went with Wickham?" said Kitty incredulously.

"Wickham? How do you know that?" Elizabeth said sharply.

Kitty's eyes widened. "She just said something in passing."

"Kitty!" Elizabeth said. "We need to know where she is. You knew about it?"

"Yeah, she said something about a peninsula and a guy named Wickham. I thought joking," said Kitty. Elizabeth suppressed a groan and headed back to Derek.

"Could I borrow your computer?" she asked him. "Lydia left some notes."

Derek nodded slowly. Elizabeth felt extremely awkward talking to him, but business needed to be taken care of.

At his computer, she went on the "Yahoo!" hotel search engine and typed in "peninsula." She assumed the "H" in "H-royalty" meant "hotel." The search came up with "The Peninsula Beverly Hills."

"What hotel would you say is a peninsula?" Elizabeth asked Derek.

"Peninsula? As in its location or name?"

"I don't know. Either."

Derek thought for a moment and said, "The Peninsula at Beverly Hills would fit the name a little. In quality, many hotels would."

"The Peninsula, Beverly Hills," Elizabeth repeated. The name sounded accurate enough to match what Kitty had said.

"We can give this note to the police," Derek said.

"Yeah," Elizabeth nodded. "Good thing we already called them. Now, what would "turns" stand for?"

Before Derek could begin to ponder, Mary burst into the room.

"Lizzy, I just got all the info out of Kitty," said Mary.

"What is it?" Elizabeth said impatiently, willing to know what was going on.

"Lydia said Wickham was staying at the Sunset Tower but was thinking of switching to another hotel," said Mary, excited to be useful.

"The Peninsula?"

"Yes," said Mary.

Elizabeth needed a ride. She wanted to find Lydia and smack her around the head for being so ridiculously stupid.

Her cell phone rang. Without reading the number or who it was, she picked it up.

"Elizabeth," said the voice on the line. "This is Will Darcy. Lydia and Wickham are somewhere near the Peninsula hotel, if you didn't already know."

"Oh, I – actually I already knew. Wait, how did you know about this?" said Elizabeth uncertainly.

"That's a long story. I'm heading there right now. If you or someone else knows anything about Wickham's location, please tell me, or you could come along," said Will.

Elizabeth muttered, "Let me think… I would want to come, but why are you doing this?"

"It doesn't matter right now. I'll pick you up and tell you on the way."

"But – but–"

"Elizabeth, you might already know Wickham and I don't get along. He's dangerous and after money – lots of money. I'll explain later, but I won't get anywhere without you or someone who knows Lydia."

Elizabeth paused for a few moments. If she went with Will, she would get one step closer to Lydia. Of course, that would only happen if Will was not the cheat Wickham said he was.

Will said, "Elizabeth, are you there?"

"I'm here. I'll go."

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**Another (rather rushed) chapter. To all reviewers so far, thank you so much for giving me feedback about my story! I'm glad it's been going well (up till chapter 4... please tell me what you think about this new one) and I know I've been vague about Jane's profession. I'll clear it up soon, the whole confusion was actually just a result of me being lazy.**

**Also, I should give some credit to the movie "Bride and Prejudice" which, while portraying Austen's book and Indian culture horribly, gave me the idea for the Los Angeles setting.**

**-Sharikaaria  
**

**Next: Lizzy and Will conduct their own search for Lydia and Wickham.**


	6. Chapter 6: A Small Hunt

_A Modern Pride and Prejudice_

**Chapter 6**

"Lizzy, are you sure you want to just walk out with Will Darcy?" said Jane, concerned. "I guess you can trust him, but at four in the morning, you're leaving?"

"We can't wait, Jane," said Elizabeth. "He somehow figured out that Wickham was up to something strange, and he's informing us of it. He's an enemy of Wickham."

"An enemy?"

"Yeah, they had some kind of fallout. Wickham told me something about it and said Will was bad."

"So can we trust Will?"

"I think so. I'm not trusting Wickham anymore, not after he's run off with Lydia. Will's helping us."

Jane shook her head. "Mom will get worse if you go out by yourself with any guy. I mean, after Lydia's run off–"

"If it was you and Charles Bingley, she wouldn't care."

"Lizzy!" Jane exclaimed, blushing. Elizabeth passed her one more smirk before running out into the driveway. A few minutes later, Will's sleek silver car pulled in. For a moment, Elizabeth felt all the wild pleasure that Lydia must have felt. A dark night and a stranger in a car, waiting to take her on an adventure, were the exact temptations that would have thrown a giddy girl into total insensibility.

Will's brow was creased, no doubt from stress and tiredness, but his expression smoothed as Elizabeth joined him.

"Hello," said Elizabeth, buckling herself in. "I'm so, so sorry about all this–"

"No, don't apologize. This is all my initiative, and part of Wickham's crimes are my fault, too," said Will, driving out. "He's always been trying to swindlethe money out of me. He might be holding Lydia for ransom, for all we know."

"Ransom!" Elizabeth gasped. "Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not. He might just be messing with her. I saw Lydia with Wickham at the Sunset Tower hotel. They were exchanging information. I've seen him do that before with another young woman at around Lydia's age, so I immediately got all his information."

"Wait, he's run off with high school girls before?"

"Yeah, and he checked out today, and made reservations at the Peninsula."

"Still, how did you know Lydia ran away?"

"Ah, I'm sorry I did it, I must seem like a total stalker," said Will, turning a faint shade of red. "I sat out in my car around here, watching for him. I recognized his car and everything, and I saw Lydia getting inside."

Elizabeth stared at him in both alarm and admiration. "Why would you do all that?"

"I told you, Wickham has a talent for doing stupid things. I never expected to see him at the party, and when I saw him with your sister, I couldn't sit back and do nothing."

"Oh…"

Elizabeth was suddenly ashamed that she had walked out on him the previous day. Will had not been as conniving and immoral as she thought he had been. Maybe, he was not so undeserving.

"Will," she said. "Thank you."

"Don't – it's my responsibility to cope with what this guy's done. It's my fault he hasn't been straightened out, or better yet, thrown in jail."

"Jail… what has he done that's bad enough to earn him a sentence?"

"When he and I were younger, still in high school, he regularly dealt marijuana. I'm not sure how much he actually smoked it – he never looked too high or drugged to me. I didn't say anything, mainly because I thought it was just a small flaw in his character, no big deal. I never though he would start disregarding more of the law in the future. He's robbed a few people."

"Then how come he's not in jail already?" Elizabeth asked, now extremely alarmed.

"Because he's too slick and underhanded. He tried running off with my sister once before. I wouldn't put it past him to have done that with many other girls too."

"It's already been two hours since Lydia ran off! How far is that hotel?"

"Ten minutes more," said Will. "And… how did you know where Lydia was going? She couldn't have told you."

"She didn't. I was suspicious when she was making supposed calls to her friends, but my sister Mary got the information out of my other sister, Kitty. I found a note in the waste basket too."

"What did it say?"

"Uhh… let's see." Elizabeth pulled the note out of her pocket.

"2 A.M., H-peninsula, turns, that's all," she said. "I just don't understand what "turns" means. Maybe the room number?"

"Damn," muttered Will. Elizabeth looked at him curiously.

He added heatedly, "He's probably switched hotels, and there are a bunch around here. Do you know who wrote that note?"

"I don't know, I can't recognize the handwriting. Whoever wrote it was scribbling. The information is too much of a coincidence. Let's try anyway," Elizabeth suggested. Will agreed, and soon, they had driven to the front of a pale beige, well-designed building that was, unlike city hotels, not too tall.

Will and Elizabeth were able to leave the car out front for a couple of minutes. They rushed inside, barely noticing the gorgeous design of the lobby, and approached the lady at the front desk.

"I'm looking to call someone from down here," Will said. "His last name is Wickham."

The lady typed the name into her computer, and turned back to him and said, "You might not be able to contact him. He hasn't checked in yet."

Elizabeth said, "Do you have any other numbers we can reach?"

"I'm afraid that's personal information," said the woman, scrutinizing Elizabeth's flustered appearance questioningly. "I don't think I'm allowed to give that out to anyone, unless Mr. Wickham left a note to us."

"That's alright, thank you," said Will, leading Elizabeth out.

"Now what?" said Elizabeth. "We don't have a lead."

They both thought hard. Elizabeth had no clue, since she had never received any evidence pointing away from the Peninsula. Will, on the other hand, was deep in thought, concentrating hard on a few of his own clues.

"The InterContinental," he said, once they were back in the car. "They might be there."

"What – why?" Elizabeth said.

Will was already zooming away from the Peninsula. "It's not too far away, and it's his favorite one."

Ten minutes later, they had reached a much, much taller hotel. It was very grand at the same time, but the size disconcerted Elizabeth.

"How will we find Wickham and Lydia through all that?" she asked nervously.

"We'll ask the same thing we asked at the Peninsula," said Will.

And they did. Elizabeth positioned herself so she looked separate from Will and got to spy on the computer screen, on which the room number was listed.

"Room 345," she said, as they walked away. "At least we know they've checked in."

"Be on your guard. Wickham can get nasty when he's figured out," warned Will.

Elizabeth nodded. They took the elevator, which speedily lifted them to the third floor. From there, they were able to find room 345 easily.

Will rapped his fist against the door sharply. He and Elizabeth waited for one, uncomfortable moment before they heard footsteps.

The door opened, and there stood George, dressed in pants and loose shirt. At seeing Will and Elizabeth, he paled.

"Where's Lydia?" said Elizabeth.

"Lydia?" said George, feigning innocence. "Why would she be here?"

"Don't lie. We know she's here, with you," said Will. Without invitation, he pushed the door open completely and entered.

George said angrily, "Whoa, hey! You can't just burst in here!"

"If we think you've abducted my sister, then we can," said Elizabeth, following Will. Lydia was not to be seen, but Elizabeth knew her too well to be disheartened.

She opened the closet to find Lydia standing, surprised and afraid.

"You," said Elizabeth, taking her wrist. "We're out of here."

Lydia wrenched her arm away. Meanwhile, Will and George were having a heated discussion. Elizabeth barely heard them. She was busy dragging Lydia out onto the balcony, away from the two men.

"Are you insane?" Elizabeth said loudly, despite the fact that most people were still sleeping. "What the hell do you think you're doing, running away with some random guy in the middle of the night? Do you have any idea how worried we've all been?"

"Do you have to nag me about everything? I was going to come back!" Lydia said, reddening.

"George Wickham is at least in his mid-twenties and you're sixteen! Walking out with someone you've only known for an afternoon is bad enough, but someone who's more than ten years older than you–"

"Lizzy, I don't need you telling me what to do! I'd be back in the morning and no one would notice!"

"We're leaving early. Come, let's go," said Elizabeth. Lydia stood resolutely on the balcony. Elizabeth moved to take her arm again, but Lydia, with an agitated cry, shoved her hard.

Elizabeth hit the railing and lost her balance. As her feet left the concrete floor, she caught a glimpse of Lydia's white, terrified face. Her hair came in the way, blowing in the wind, and all she was aware of was that the world had turned upside down, that there was no longer anything beneath her except air.

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**Quick chapter. Lydia and Wickham are found! Currently, it's my spring break, so I can get to writing much more often. As always, reviews are appreciated! If you didn't understand the very end of this chapter, for clarification, I will say Lizzy fell off the balcony. cue doomed sound effects**

**All of the hotels actually exist. I basically hopped onto travel. for all my hotel information. I haven't actually been to any of those hotels, so if you've been there, pardon my inaccuracy. I've only been working off of a few, small photos of each hotel, all portraying outside images.  
**

**-Sharikaaria**


	7. Chapter 7: Another Chance

_A Modern Pride and Prejudice_

**Chapter 7**

Only George Wickham was positioned well enough to see Elizabeth slip over the balcony's edge. His eyes widened and, at seeing his shock, Will whirled around, just in time to hear a crash sound beneath the balcony. Lydia had fallen to her knees, and Elizabeth was gone.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Will demanded. Lydia turned her unfocused gaze to him, tears welling up in her eyes. Comprehension dawned upon Will, and he ran out onto the balcony, looking below.

A paved area lay directly below the balcony, but beyond that was a swimming pool. A large, canvas tent had fallen into the pool, its white fabric floating on the surface, the metal poles weighing it down.

Will spotted a figure tangled in the tent, bobbing under the water, and he said urgently to Lydia, "Get up and come down there with me! Help your sister, she could be hurt!"

Lydia, nodding dumbly, followed him out the door, barely noticing George as she left. She searched for Elizabeth at the poolside shakily. Elizabeth, however, was grumpily trudging out of the water, sopping wet. Her clumped strands of soaked hair were strewn all over her face, and her clothes hung loosely from her body.

She reached Lydia and told her through clenched teeth, "You're lucky _I'm_ alive."

Lydia stared at her vacantly, mouthing something like "I'm sorry." Words seemed out of her reach.

Sighing, Elizabeth patted Lydia's shoulder. "A lesson well learnt, I hope."

Will told Elizabeth to sit down, and she obliged, heavily dropping onto one of the table chairs.

"Ow!" she said, wincing.

"Anything broken?" Will asked.

"No idea," said Elizabeth, shivering.

"Lydia, go get help from someone," said Will. Lydia ran, not having to go too far, since a few employees had already noticed something had gone very wrong.

"Could you call the Collins?" Elizabeth said weakly, squeezing water out of her hair and removing her jacket. She gave Will the phone number and he contacted Mrs. Collins, giving her the hotel address and location, along with news on the unusual turn of events.

"They're on their way," said Will, once Mrs. Collins had hung up. Elizabeth nodded rubbed her arms, still shivering from the cold. Luckily, a hotel worker approached her, handing her a fluffy white towel. She took it gratefully and wrapped herself in it.

"You need a change of clothes, or you'll catch something," said Will, concerned. Elizabeth smiled ruefully.

"Where can I find dry clothes?" she said. Will called back the worker and asked.

The worker, a thin woman with short black hair, said, "I can take her one place, but I think you'll have to stay here and give some details on what just happened."

Will nodded and waved to Elizabeth, who waved back as she walked away. For some reason, Elizabeth was having trouble walking straight.

The woman asked Elizabeth, "Did you fall off a balcony?"

"Yes."

"How are you standing? Are you hurt?"

"No – I think I'm fine. I hit the tent and then fell in the water."

"You're… really lucky."

"Maybe," said Elizabeth, grinning and gazing at her surroundings. Not knowing why, she felt strange. The woman gave here a white t-shirt and a pair of white shorts from the gym area. Somehow, Elizabeth was able to find her way inside the clothes. While pulling the shirt over her head, however, she felt a sharp pain split through the back of her skull. She lightly combed her hand through her hair and ran across a bump. Her head continued to throb as she made her way back to Will, who was anxiously waiting for her.

"Mrs. Collins and your mom came to take Lydia. They're waiting for you," said Will.

"Oh… what was that?" Elizabeth asked, not hearing correctly, for she was focusing on the pain too much.

"Are you okay?"

"Um..."

"You don't have a concussion or anything, do you?"

Elizabeth only registered half of what he said and responded with a benign smile.

When Will said nothing, she wondered aloud, "Where are we anyway? Oh–"

She grinned dazedly. "A pool – a hotel."

At that point, Will had decided something was seriously wrong with her. "I think you should go to the ER."

"ER?"

"Emergency room."

"Ohhh…"

Will guided Elizabeth back to her mother and Mrs. Collins.

Mrs. Bennet, pale and worried, cried out, "Lizzy, are you alright? Have you broken anything?"

Will, glancing at the confused Elizabeth beside him, answered instead. "I think she might have gotten a concussion. I could take her to the emergency room, if you want. It wouldn't be a problem."

Mrs. Bennet, who might have only seen Will in passing once, barely recognized him. Mrs. Collins cured her confusion.

"This is Will Darcy. He was at the Debourghs' party the other day," she told Mrs. Bennet.

Will added, "I'm sure you've already got a lot to deal with. I can take Elizabeth and then return her to you. It's sort of my fault that she got into this searching mess anyway."

"Thank you," said Mrs. Bennet, beaming at him.

Within the next five minutes, Elizabeth was already in Will's car, and they were off to the emergency room. When Elizabeth was checked, they soon learned she had suffered a small concussion.

"The symptoms you told me about aren't too bad. She should be better anytime now," said the doctor. Truly enough, Elizabeth's frazzled state of mind passed over and she became normal.

"To the Collins' home we go," she said, somewhat sadly. "That was one intense night."

Morning had already begun, and the city's lights were mostly shut off.

Will said, "You do not know how scary that was when we all figured you'd fallen off."

Elizabeth laughed. "I lucked out. I had a tent and a swimming pool to cushion me. But wait, what happened to George?"

"I think he ran for it while we were taking care of you. He probably checked out five minutes after he knew you fell. You want the police after him, right?"

"They already are trying to find Lydia. I guess we should contact them and tell them to stop the search. I don't know if we can convict George. Lydia willingly went with him."

"That's true. Wickham might get himself in trouble again as it is. I give him one month before he hits jail."

"A good bet. But still, I'm really sorry you had to come and deal with him and Lydia."

Elizabeth could not help worrying about what Will thought of her and her family now. He had just seen Lydia at her worst.

Will, sensing her embarrassment, said, "Remember, my sister ran away with Wickham too. The guy has a lot of ways to trick people."

The discussion of Wickham then seemed closed to them. Elizabeth did not dare venture for further details about Will's sister, and Will disliked Wickham too much to talk about him. The next thing that came to Elizabeth's mind was Anne Debourgh. Somehow, she had almost completely forgotten about her and was talking to Will normally.

"Wouldn't your family wonder where you were, just now?" she asked.

"Maybe a few, don't worry. I won't say anything about Wickham and your sister."

"Okay."

Elizabeth inwardly wondered at how Will would deal with Anne. No fiancée would appreciate her partner secretly escaping for an entire night. Of course, since Will had helped Elizabeth so much, it would not be polite at all to raise the subject of Anne. Will, on the other hand, knew the car ride was the last opportunity he would have to see Elizabeth, unless he said something.

"About yesterday," he began, "would you listen to me now, about Anne?"

Elizabeth, feeling inclined to listen after all he had done, said, "Alright."

"I told you yesterday that I don't love her. I never did. The whole engagement is an idea of hers, her mom's, and my mom's."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't want to. I should have."

They pulled into the Collins' driveway. Elizabeth stepped out of the car and turned back to Will.

"Thank you, again, for helping me and my family so much," she said. With a parting smile, she headed back to the house.

Will left his car too and called after her, "Wait!"

"Yes?" said Elizabeth, stopping.

"Can we meet again? I mean, if you don't want to, that's okay. I'd understand."

Elizabeth observed him. A tide of memories returned to her, of Will as a serious, disagreeable young man, a handsome and charming bachelor, helpful and caring, yet mysterious and deceiving. She could hardly perceive his real character, but all she knew was that now, she wanted to learn more.

"You have my cell number," she said.

"Oh, right. Then I'll call you about it later?"

"Sure, just get some sleep first."

Will waved to her, greatly relieved, and seated himself back in his car, and drove off. Elizabeth watched him go until he was out of sight.

She knocked on the Collins' door, and waited as rushed footsteps came near and opened the door.

"Lizzy!" said Mrs. Collins. "Come inside! Poor girl, you've been through a lot. What happened in the ER?"

"I got a small concussion, but the doctor said I'd be fine. Where are mom and everyone?"

"I think Jane and your mom are upstairs, talking to Lydia."

"Mrs. Collins, I'm so sorry about all this. I think Lydia's learned her lesson, but I wish you didn't have to deal with it."

"Lydia's a growing girl, and if she's improved like you think she does, I'm happy to help. But Lizzy, I think we need to put you to bed. You need rest."

"Really, Mrs. Collins, I'm fine," Elizabeth said. "I'll go to sleep, but first, I want to talk with Lydia."

As Mrs. Collins had said, Lydia was upstairs with Jane and Mrs. Bennet. Elizabeth entered the room. Jane quickly rushed to her, asking how she was, whether she felt ill, and what had happened for her to find Lydia. Mrs. Bennet also stood, more rigid than Elizabeth had ever seen her before.

"Lizzy," said Mrs. Bennet, embracing her daughter. "I was so worried! Don't you pull any stunt like that again!"

"It's okay, mom," said Elizabeth. She looked over Mrs. Bennet's shoulder at Lydia, who was sitting near the window, tears streaked over her face.

"We were just talking to Lydia," said Jane.

"Talking!" exclaimed Mrs. Bennet. "I've been spending ten days' worth of energy, trying to get some sense in her head! It's working, but I never thought…"

She was silenced by a warning look from Jane, and Lydia burst into a new wave of tears.

"Tell us what happened, Lizzy," said Jane. Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed before beginning.

"Well, Will Darcy came by to pick me up," said Elizabeth. "He has his own business with George Wickham, none of it good. He thought, like I did, that George was at the Peninsula, and we found out George was actually at the Intercontinental. We found Lydia and George there, and…"

"And?" Jane said. "How did you fall off a balcony?"

Elizabeth turned to Lydia, who wailed, "Fine, I did it! It was an accident! I didn't mean to!"

Mrs. Bennet was beside herself with shock and anger. "I thought you were smarter than that! You could have killed her!"

"Mom…" Elizabeth said, trying to calm Mrs. Bennet down. Although Lydia had behaved very badly, she would not improve if Mrs. Bennet kept blaming her.

"I think," Elizabeth said to Lydia, "that this will tell you why you're not supposed to run away with random guys. Can you tell me why?"

"Because you'll all get worried," Lydia said sullenly.

"That's one. What else?" said Mrs. Bennet.

Lydia sighed. "Because the guys can hurt me, and I don't know them well enough."

"Go on."

"I'm too young. If I do it, I'm… shameless, right?"

"Yes, and I guess we'll figure out what to do with you, after we tell dad. If you've learned your lesson, then you might escape boot camp."

"Mom!" Jane said, reproachfully. At the mention of boot camp, Lydia did not cry. She merely stared straight ahead, at a fixed point on the wall. Yawning, Elizabeth left for bed. She was far too tired to cope with Lydia any longer.

As she tumbled in and closed her eyes, she felt the warmth of the blankets and fell asleep comfortably. The last things she remembered from the night were the incredible fall she took, and the amazingly large amount of help Will Darcy had given her. Sleep was overtaking her mind, and the very last thing she imagined was Will.

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Will Darcy had returned to his mother's home, where he was supposed to be for the night. He crept up the large, curved staircase and into his room, throwing himself in bed. He was shaken awake three hours later by his mother.

"What? Five more minutes," he muttered blearily, shrinking from the light. His mother was standing next to his bed, her arms crossed. She was a poised, pretty kind of woman with a large amount of command in her air. Her hair was dark brown like her son's, but other than that, there was little resemblance.

"Where were you?" she asked angrily.

"Out… Getting some work done," Will lied.

"Anne was waiting for you. You could have called."

"Sorry, there was too much going on."

Mrs. Darcy did not look convinced. "Are you hiding something?"

"Why should I be?" Will said.

"Because you've been paying Anne even less attention than you used to. What's going on?"

Will pushed his covers aside and sat up. Always, it was "Anne this" and "Anne that." He couldn't stand the girl.

"Maybe," he said coolly, "I just don't like Anne, and I don't want to marry her. Why should I pay her any attention?"

"You're engaged to her, Will. You proposed to her yourself."

"Yeah, and that's because you told me to. You got everyone to pressure me into doing it."

"Why are you suddenly so worked up over this? Don't tell me you're planning on dropping out of it now!" snapped Mrs. Darcy.

"I was never planning on staying in it," said Will dryly, getting to his feet and snatching up some fresh clothes. Indifferently and somewhat coldly, he ignored his mother's distress. The lines on Mrs. Darcy's face had creased dramatically.

"Think about what you're doing," she said slowly. "Everybody thinks you two are made for each other. I think she'd be perfect, and so does her mother. She loves you, Will."

"She does not love me. She just likes my money."

"Will, how can you say such a thing? She's rich enough on her own. Why would she like your money?"

"Because she's one of those people that wants more than she needs, and since when did I have to marry someone because everyone thinks I should? It's my life, not theirs."

Before his mother could make any further remarks, Will strode out of the room. He planned on dissolving the engagement between himself and Anne, no matter what anyone thought of it. Anne was blonde, beautiful, and rich, but her charm and regard were both fake. Will imagined a marriage with her to be dissatisfying and full of misery. By the time they would be old, they would no longer be beautiful. Anne was all about her looks. When she would lose it all, there would be nothing left for her to give Will, other than spite.

Will thought of Elizabeth Bennet instead. She was smart, beautiful, and exciting. Her acquaintance with Will had not been long, but what Will had seen from it was enough to know what would be lost in marrying Anne. Elizabeth, unlike Anne, was the kind of person that would care more about the man himself than his riches. Will knew she might disappear from his life in a few days. Nonetheless, he wanted to find her, know her better.

He found his cell phone, and then stopped. Elizabeth was probably asleep. She had been through a lot, spending the entire night out and falling from the third story of a hotel.

"Will!" Mrs. Darcy called, following him. "I have one more thing to ask you?"

"Yeah?" said Will, frowning. Nothing his mother would ask him could be good.

"You don't like another woman, do you?" Mrs. Darcy asked. "I want reassurance."

"Mom, nothing has dissuaded me from liking Anne. I never liked her. Never," said Will, stressing the last word.

"You haven't answered the question. Do you like another woman or not?"

Will looked her in the eye and, after a moment's quick thought, declared, "Yes."

**::sigh:: Only two days of my spring break are left, including today. I hope I can get more chapters in soon, unless school completely takes over my life. I'm currently watching the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Sooo good:)**

**-Sharikaaria**

**Next: Will and Elizabeth meet up. Mrs. Darcy is in rage, and she's not the kind of person to back down when she's not happy. ::hint hint::**


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